Corn-planter



(No Model.) I v '7 I F. BAYLESS. CORN PLANTBR.

No; 478,498. Patented July- 5, 1892.

fizz/6277621 W. MWQQ) will UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK BAYLESS, OF WILBERFOROE, OHIO.

COR N-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,498, dated July 5,1892.

Application filed March 12, 1892- Sen'al No. 424,707. (No model.) I

clear, and exact description thereof, reference a being had to theaccompanying drawings, and

' to the letters of reference marked thereon,

which form part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan viewof myimproved corn-planting machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsection through the same. Fig. 3 is a detail of the cam-disk.

This invention is an improvement in machines for planting corn, &c.; andit espe cially relates to the mechanism for actuating the dropping disksor slides; and it consists, essentially, in novel mechanism for converting a rotary movement of a shaft into reciprocating movements of adropper-actuating bar, and in certain other novel details ofconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A designates the front frame of themachine, having furrow-openers B B at its ends, and above the openersare seed-boxes O C, which, as shown, are provided with rotatabledroppingdisks 0 c of any suitable construction. These disks areoperated, as shown, by a reciprocating bar D, lying transversely onframe A and projecting beside both disks and having spring-dogs orratchets d d, which success ively engage ratchet-teeth or lugs on thepe: ripheries of the disks and impart a partial revolution to the disksfor each complete reciprocation of the bar.

The particular construction of the furrowopeners, seed-boxes, anddropping-disks is not an essential part of my present invention, and anysuitable construction of such parts may be employed.

E designates a vertical stub-shaft j ournaled in brackets or otherbearings of suitable construction at the center of the frame A or at apoint intermediate the boxes.

e is an arm rigidly connected at one end to the shaft, while its outerend is slotted and engages an upstanding pin d on bar D, so

that when shaft E is rocked back and forth the bar-will be reciprocated.

F is a lever connected to the shaft E above arm 6 by a transverse pin gin such manner that it can rise and fall or swing vertically withoutaffecting the shaft, but cannot turn sidewise without moving the shaft.

G is a spring attached to pin g or the shaft E, as shown, and bearinglever F down at all times.

f is a friction roller or sleeve on the extremity of lever B, whichbears upon the periphery of a cam-disk I, mounted on the forward end ofa shaft J, journaled in and 1011- gitudinally of a frame W, which isshackled at its forwardend to frame A, and is supported on a transverserotatable axle or shaft V, carried by wheels 1; o, fixed thereto.

K is a bevel-gear on the shaft V, which meshes with a bevel-gear j onshaft J, thereby imparting rotary motion to shaft J and disk I fromshaft V. Gear K is preferably loose on shaft V, but may be lockedthereto by a suitable clutch. Gearj may be loose on shaft J but providedwith a locking-clutch, or shaft J may be made in two parts connected bya clutch. The object of the clutch connections to one of said parts isto enable the revolution of disk I to be stopped without stopping themovement of shaft V when the machine is on the road or turning in thefield whereit is not desired to plant seed;

Disk I is formed with three radial cam-arms i, which are bent or curvedbackward, so that their outer edges are on lines convolutely curved tothe axis of the disk, as shown in Fig. 3. The end of lever F overreachesthe edge of the disk, and its roller f always bears against the outer orleft-hand edge of the uppermost arm 71 of the disk, being held incontact therewith by spring G, which bears it down, and by a spring H,which is connected to shaft E and frame in such manner as to force theshaft and armsto revolvetoward the right-hand side of the machine andmove barD back also. Instead of-attachingspring H to shaft E, springscould be attached to frame A and bar D, so as to drawthelatter backafter it is thrown forward by means of the cam, lever, shaft, and arm,as will be readily understood. In other words, any arrangement ofsprings may be employed which will throw the bar D and shaft and leverback to normal position after they have been shifted by the action ofthe cam-disk. The cam-disk having three arms, lever F will be shiftedthree times for each revolution of shaft J, and consequently bar Dreciprocated three times forward by the positive rocking of the shaft Eand three times backward by the counter action of the springs. Thenumber of arms on diskI might be increased or diminished, but three willgive about the best re sults. For each reciprocation of bar D a plantingof seed will be dropped from the boxes, and the distance apart of theplantings .may be determined, first, by the circumference of the wheels1), and then by the relative sizes of gears K 3'. In practical use thegear j may be removable and another larger or smaller gear substitutedtherefor, according to whether the plantings are to be farther apart ornearer together. If the gear j be relatively much smaller than gear K,the bar D can be reciprocated so rapidly as to practically drill theseed. Instead of using interchangeable gears j a disk having two or moreconcentric series of gear-teeth may be used on shaft J, gear K beingadapted to be shifted into engagement with either set of teeth, thusvarying the relative rotations of shafts J and V. I contemplate, also,using slide-droppers in the seed-boxes in some cases, if desired, whichwill be connected to and operated by bar D.

N N are yoke-bars connected to frame A and extending backward underframe W to about the center thereof, their rear ends being connected bya rod 01.

O is a split link loosely connected by one end to rod 01, and embracingshaft J, (with which, however,it has no connection,) and its upper endis connected to a crank-arm P, operated by a lever 19, which is arrangedon frame W within convenient reach of the driver. The drivers seat is onframe WV and the lever for operating the clutch for regulating thedriving of shaft J from shaft V is in easy reach. The shaft J preventslink 0 moving laterally, but allows it free vertical adjustment, and bythis link the relative horizontal positions of frames A and NV and thedepth of furrows may be regulated. 'v t) may be constructed to serve asfurrowclosers, or any suitable furrow-closing devices may be attached tothe machine.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent thereon, is-

1.' The combination of. the frame, the seedboXes, the reciprocatingdropperactuating bar, the Vertical rock-shaft operating said bar, thehorizontally-proj ectin gvertically-yieldin g lever connected to saidrock-shaft, and a revolving cam-disk for operating said lever,substantially as described.

Wheels crease 2. The combination of the reciprocatingbar, the verticalrock-shaft having a horizontal arm connected to said bar, the horizontalswinging lever connected to said bar, and the rotatable cam-diskoperating said lever, and springs for throwing said parts back to normalposition, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the dropper-actuating bar, a rock-shaft, an armconnecting said shaft and bar, a vertically-swinging springcontrolledlever connected to said shaft, a friction-sleeve on the end thereof, anda revoluble cam-disk upon which the .free end of said lever bears,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the reciprocating. dropper-actuating bar, thespring-controlled rock-shaft for shifting said bar, and the leverconnected to said rock-shaft, with the frame mounted on a rotatablewheeled shaft, the longitudinal shaft geared to said wheeled shaft, andthe cam-disk on the end of the longitudinal shaft engaging said lever,substantially as described.

5. The combination of the furrow-opening frame, the wheeled frameshackled thereto, thelongitudinalshaftjournaledinthewheeled frame, acammed disk mounted on the front end of said shaft, and mechanism foroperating said longitudinal shaft from the main wheels, with thedropper-actnatin g bar on the furrow-opening frame, the verticalrock-shat t for operating said bar, and the lever connected to saidrock-shaft and bearing against the cams of said disk and operatedthereby, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the seed-boxes, dropping mechanism therein, andthe reciprocating actuating-bar therefor, with the springcontrolledrock-shaft, its arm connected to said bar, and the spring-controlledswinging lever connected to said shaft, and arevoluble cam-disk engagingthe free end of the lever, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the furrow-opening frame, its seed-boxes, andreciprocating dropper-actuating bar, the rear frame, its wheeled axle,the yoke connected to the front frame, and the adjusting-linkconnections between said yoke and rear frame, the transverseshaft in therear frame, the gearing for operating said shaft, the cam-disk on thefront end thereof, the rock-shaft on the front frame, the leverconnected thereto and engaging said disk, and the springs for throwingsaid shaft, lever, and reciprocating bar back to normal position, allsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

FRANK BAYLESS. WVitnesses:

T. D. PRATTIs, J. P. SHORTER.

